Studying Art (15)- A Fire Runs Through It…

I’m becoming obsessed by the fire…
The primordial force of no earthy origin.
Of captivating beauty, forever sublime, even in its ashes and fumes…

The spiritual depth, the emotional fever, the power of human and nature’s genius…

The most mesmerizing epitome of the liminal and the paradoxical – consuming and supporting life, wounding and healing, the master and the servant… Perpetual space of becoming, of an annihilation and re-birth…

The element of gods and monsters, the sublimation of hell, the alien lover…

And as such it’s impossible to paint or to convey in words, and just because of that creative people have always been in love with its challenge…

Everyone around me seems to paint water, sometimes the earth. Well, it’s the islanders’ trait and they are good at it…

But I will face flames in my work. I will challenge them with my imagination, my admiration and ambition; I will abstract them and command them to exist as a spirit and the intent of the work. I will probably abandon them soon, yet it’s interesting to see where they will lead me… What sort of a catharsis and inferno the fire, I’m playing with is going to enrich me with…

5 responses to “Studying Art (15)- A Fire Runs Through It…”

Hi Katarzyna, just want to say Hi !° I do not think that moving over to fire makes a good escape from Art ! Try a bit harder then ;-)) Also the other guy, what was his name, P.Doig, I do not think he is good, in fact he is probably a quite bad artist, every work shows this frankly. I am sure, you do not search for Art showing in this pseudo psychological and bad formed way. This is just what I think, maybe I am wrong…

Hans,
Who says, I want to escape 😉 ?… I don’t want to set afire my paintings after all… (not yet ;-))
I’m just looking for a simple yet potent metaphor that will be able to convey the dynamics of an individual’s inner life…
And I would defend Doig. And what does it exactly mean ‘he is not a good artist’? Could you explain? Not your taste, badly painted, concepts/intent so so, personality too wobbly, nationality not right?… I would say – in today’s flood of images that look like being foot-painted in a midst of a big hangover – his paintings take time, consideration, struggle – and it shows…

first of all, I was a little drunken yesterday night (mhm… White Odessa ;-)), but it’s not that I did not think about what to write.

The thing with the fire was just to make a nice little friendly provocation to you, fire is good and your work and your thoughts are also moving in interesting new spaces. About P.Doig I do not understand, why he is such a darling these days, I guess there are not much people left, who have an eye on the matter of painting, who are able to understand “painting” (of course we all understand probably something else…) but still, like the former big art guys, which can describe and judge and it’s convincing. Yes, like, you know this method of Greenberg ? Going in a Museum/Gallery not looking at a work, moving with his back to the work. Standing still, then abrupt turning around, starring at the work and judge in that very second, try to avoid thought, but just let decide the eye weather it’s good or not. See I miss that moment of impact at a Doig, when looking on his works, but I must confess that I saw it only on screen and never in original. I find his works to “thoughty” and a big KITSCH.

Nice to have somebody like you, who is interested in such questions. Best regards, Hans

I suppose we need a new term to deal with, where we are in now. Any Ideas ?

I say we should call it MODERN INFORMATION, so we renew the term modern in the best sense it was meant and widen the field of art to the intentionally artificial and systematic composition of any information, be it color, be it dots, bits, letters, notes, sounds, ideas ++++

The age could start with the founding of Google at 7th September 1998.

Terra Incognita

Life is 'Terra Incognita' and so is Art. Ever-changing event emerging from endless possibilities. For some it's a business, a way to money and fame, for others - an inescapable gravitas of becoming - a creation of a new world.
This site features mainly its author's articles on Art History and Theory. It's got an ambition to promote an alternative view on artist's life here and now. Artist as a practical philosopher applying his knowledge through visual expression. Evoking clarity through mastering chaos and being a midwife of emotion.